Project Shikamaru
by Wombat of Light
Summary: Shikamaru gets dragged into a modeling career and it turns his world upsidedown. How will this lazy cloud loving ninja cope with his sudden fame? And more importantly, how will his peers deal with it?
1. Opening Credits

Well peoples this is my first fanfiction that I've actually posted so hopefully you'll like it. This fic is probably the result of my unhealthy obsession with Shikamaru and the show Project Runway, thus I named it Project Shikamaru. It probably won't have much to do with project runway actually but whatever. On with the fic!

xxxxxxxxxxxxx**Project Shikamaru** xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shikamaru inspected the apple in his hand, knowing all to well what kind of trouble he would be in if he picked out faulty fruits. 'Man, helping mom with the groceries was almost as troublesome as dealing with Ino on a week long mission. Well okay so maybe its not _that_ troublesome... but still.' he thought to himself as he put the apples in his bag and payed the shopkeeper.

"Hey, you there with the ponytail!" an unfamiliar voice called trying to get Shikamarus attention.

"Huh...?" Shikamaru said halfheartedly after realizing he was the only one with a ponytail in the area.

"How would you like to be a model for my clothing line?" The overly energetic man said as he held out a business card in his hand.

'_You've got to be kidding me...'_ Shikamaru thought as he looked at the brightly colored card in the mans hand. Since when was he model material? "Nope, sorry not interested." he said as he turned his back to the man and looked around for his mother.

"But w-wait!" The man said as he grabbed Shikamarus shoulder. Apparently he wasn't used to getting no for an answer. "I don't think you fully understand ...I mean, the pay is great and you'll be famous!"

Oh Shikamaru understood alright. His brilliant mind had already ran though every scenario this could possibly have led too and he didn't like the end result of any of them. "I've already told you no, go ask someone else. I have one job and I certainly don't want another one." Shikamaru said as he pushed the mans girly pampered hand off his shoulder. He was getting quite annoyed now. Here he was stuck running errands on this beautiful cloud watching day and now this man wouldn't leave him alone. There was no way in hell he was going to be a model. Not unless-

"Shikamaru what are you doing? Slacking off again I see! I told you to pick up the fruit and here you are chatting away with your friend!" Shikamarus pushy mother lectured as she came behind them.

"He's not a friend." Shikamaru said simply. He wanted to get away from this man before-

"Hi! I'm Kyabi Hayako from Hoshi Works INC. I'm sure you've heard of us somewhere, we make some of the finest desinger clothing." He said as he shook her hand. "And I'm assuming this handsome young man here is your son? We were just talking about business and I think that he would be an excellent model for our new Fall line!"

"You think my Shikamaru could be a model?" She said in awe as she scratched her chin.

'_Oh no mom don't...'_ Shikamau thought in horror.

"Of course! He has this whole 'whatever' vibe that defines the new generation. You can see the apathy surging from every pore in his body! His stance, his expression, the messy ponytail!" he said with enthusiasm as he put his hands into a rectangle shape and acted like he was taking a picture of Shikamaru. "He would be on the front cover of every magazine! His name in lights! Girls would want him, and men would want to be him!"

Shikamarus mother was clearly starstruck at the fact that her son, that lazy Shikamaru could be a clothing model. "When would he start?" She asked with a smile.

Shikamaru hung his head in defeat. His mom had made up her mind and there was no arguing with her now. He was doomed.

"So your accepting the job? Great! Here's the paperwork you'll need to sign..." he said as he

reached into his bag and handed them to Shikas mother. "And here's my business card with the studio address. So meet me there at 10:00 next Monday! I can't wait!" He said as he went on his way.

"Wow this is great! And here I was thinking you would never amount to anything more than an average ninja! I'm so proud of you!" She said with a smile as she patted Shikamaru on the head.

"Gee thanks mom..." Shikamaru said sarcastically. He couldn't remember the last time he was this annoyed. There were oh so many things that could go wrong with this troublesome model plan...

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Well there's the first chapter! Its kinda short, but please tell me what you think! I'm not really sure exactly where this is going, it may become a ShikaxTemari fic... but probably not... there's a good chance of it becoming a ShikaxEveryone fic. Most likely it will be just a general Shika fic though.


	2. Assignment 1: Matchmaker?

Okay so here's chapter two! I kinda like where this fic is going...

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto...

"So your gonna be modeling this guys designer clothes now?" Choji after hearing the story of how Shikamaru's mother had forced him into his new modeling career. He threw the emtpy potato chip bag in the growing trash pile and opened a new bag.

"Mnn, starting tomorrow...its so troublesome." Shikamaru sighed looking up at the wispy clouds.

"Don't say that Shikamaru. Most people would kill for the chance to be a famous model! I mean, just think of what Ino would do!" Choji said as he munched on some chips.

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about." Shikamaru had been on the receiving end of Ino's temper far too many times to not know how bad it was. And he knew how jealous she would be that he, who didn't give a damn about appearance was a model when she, who put hours into looking nice, only worked at a flower shop. "Choji! We can't let Ino find out about this!" he said as he turned to his friend

"Huh? Why?" Choji asked

"Because think about it, if she finds out she'll be pissed and may never forgive me."

"Oh right." Choji said with a sly smile. "Or she could suddenly find you irresistible because she wants to date a model." Choji chuckled

"Yeah, that too..."

"Or! Or maybe, since Sasuke's gone, his fan club will turn their attention to you! Oh, Shikamaru you're so amazing and smart! Please let me have your childern!" Choji said as he clasped his hands together and imitated one of the obnoxious fan girls.

"Choji! Your not making it any better!" Shikamaru complained But he couldn't help but laugh a little at Chojis imitation. "Okay so lets not let _anyone _know about this. I don't think I could stand the entire Sasuke fanclub coming after me... but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't happen."

"Why not? Your too modest Shikamaru..."

"Hmm... maybe. Ugh, girls are so troublesome. All they care about is appearance..." Shikamaru complained

"Yeah..." Choji agreed. He knew the truth in Shikamaru's statement probably better than anyone. They laid in silence for a few peaceful minutes until Choji spoke up. "Well I should be getting home soon, Moms cooking pork for dinner." he said as he stood up and brushed the grass off his pants.

"Right, bye then." Shikamaru said as he lazily raised a hand and waved goodbye to his friend, he didn't bother sitting up or even turning around, but then again Choji didn't really expect him too.

Shikamaru laid back on the hill just relaxing and thinking. It was getting darker and the fall wind was cold against his nearly bare skin. Fishnet shirts weren't the warmest thing in the world.

"Hnn... A troublesome wind blew all the clouds away..." he groaned as he looked at the now empty and darkening sky.

He pulled himself off the ground acting like it was too troublesome just to stand and started to trudge home. By the time he had reached the center of Konoha it was dark and the street lamps had turned on and were casting long shadows down the alleys. As Shikamaru was turning down one of those alleys he crashed into someone.

"Oof!" Shikamaru said as he caught his balance and prevented himself from falling over.

"Ahh!" the person let out a small cry as she fell back onto the hard ground.

"Hinata? Are you alright?" Shikamaru asked as he leaned down and extended his hand to help her up.

"I-I'm fine..." she said as she accepted his help and was pulled up to her feet. "I'm s-sorry I ran into y-you." Hinata stuttered nervously as she looked around.

"Whatever. It wasn't your fault. " Shikamaru shrugged as he looked around at the empty streets. "Are you here alone?"

"Y-yes..."

Shikamaru let out a big sigh."Its getting dark, you probably should be wandering alone now. Its troublesome, but I'll walk you home." Although Shikamaru really didn't want to walk the extra way, his morals wouldn't allow him to leave a girl by herself at night. He wanted to know what exactly Hinata was doing out here alone, but that wasn't his business so he didn't ask. He could make a educated guess though.

"Oh, o-okay. Thank you Shikamaru..." she said as she politely bowed.

"Sure." he shrugged again as he started walking toward the Hyuuga manor.

If anyone saw them walking together they would probably think they were on a date or something. It did seem somewhat romantic, walking the empty streets with the street lights lighting the way and the fall leaves crunching beneath their feet...

'_Hinata isn't too troublesome as far as women go...at least she's quiet._' Shikamaru thought as they walked together. But he still thought she was troublesome in her own ways. He didn't mind her stutter and found her shyness kinda cute, but what bothered him was the way she took everything way too seriously. She considered almost everything to be her fault, like running into

him for example. That was no ones fault really, but she took the blame for it. And Shikamaru

found her unhealthy obsession with Naruto too be quite unattractive as well. She was like a creepy stalker sometimes. _'Oh well, who am I to judge what people do. I'm just the lazy cloud loving guy...' _Shikamaru thought.

"Oi! Shikamaru! Hinata!" An earsplitting cry rang though the streets.

"N-n-naruto!" Hinata stuttered as she blushed wildly.

"Hey, guys! ...What are you two doing together?" The blonde haired ninja said as he trotted up to them. He was covered in sweat, suggesting that he had been out training all day but still somehow had the energy to yell.

"I-I--uh...w-well..." Hinata stammered, her face was redder than a beet.

"I was just walking Hinata home but I can see you can take care of it." Shikamaru said as he turned his back to the two. "Later."

"Wait, huh?" Naruto said as Shikamaru walked off into the night.

"Shikamaru..." Hinata blushed as he walked away. 'Thank you.' she thought gratefully.

"He's a weird guy, huh? ...Anyway I'll walk you home, Hinata!" Naruto smiled

"O-oka-ay." Hinata felt like she was going to melt. She was so nervous she felt like she was going to puke, but felt so happy at the same time. She wouldn't trade this for the world.

"Well there's my good deed for the day..." Shikamaru said to himself as he turned and looked back at the two walking into the night. "So troublesome..." he sighed as he headed home, dreading with every step what would happen tomorrow.

Hmm.. Maybe I should make these chapters longer... they seem kind of short when I read them over.

And I already have up to chapter four written but I'm picky and like to change things a lot so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be posted, probably soon because my professors canceled classes on Tuesday!

And on a side note... I made Shikamaru's jacket today! Yay cosplay! I just need to by fishnet fabric so I can make the undershirt.


End file.
